Mystery Solved
by baileygirl42
Summary: Lois thinks she has finally discovered where Clark goes off to when he disappears so mysteriously. ClarkLex Friendship Fic
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Lois thinks she has finally discovered where Clark goes off to when he disappears so mysteriously.

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Category: Drama, Clark/Lex friendship fic.

Spoilers: Clark is Superman and Lex knows, not much reference to the show or actual episodes otherwise, Clark works with Lois at The Planet .

Please excuse any errors as I don't have a Beta.

Any feedback would be very helpful, but this is my second fic ever, so please be gentle.

**Mystery Solved**

**Chapter One (of Two) **

Lois sat at her desk in the middles of the Daily Planet bullpen trying to surreptitiously watch her partner, Clark Kent. His desk butted up against hers facing each other, so watching him was not hard to do ­– except that Clark seemed to have a sixth sense about being observed.

"Stop it, Lois" Clark said suddenly, without even moving his head away from his computer screen to look over at her.

"Stop what, Clark?" Lois had a policy to never admit to anything.

Clark looked up from his computer screen. "Stop staring at me, Lois. I don't know what you are planning but you can forget it right now. You know I'm on a really tight deadline and Perry's breathing down my neck to get his hands on this 'Senator McKnight' piece, so I don't have time for you pranks."

Lois was known to try to subtly pull pranks on any reporter that scooped her on a story, as he had with the 'Senator McKnight' story, so Clark felt justified in his accusation.

"Really Clark" she hissed at him sarcastically, "If my intense concentration is making your guilty conscience act up and make you think that I'm staring at you, I'm very sorry" she said, in such a way as to convey that she was not sorry at all.

"As for your other accusation, I will not even justify that with a response."

Clark was satisfied with this and went back to his work, he knew that was Lois' 'pat answer' that she used every time she was accused of pranking people. He figured this was so she never actually had to lie about being involved in any pranks or not.

Lois looked away and reminded herself to be more circumspect, after all she was a professional, but then again, so was Clark.

But as everyone at the planet knew, when Lois was on the trail of a mystery, she was never deterred. Lois had decided that her partner Clark was a mystery and she would be the one to solve it.

For this reason, Lois, who had several stories currently in the works, had decided to spend the day, and even the week if she had to, following Clark around.

Clark was an enigma because he often disappeared for periods of time, and then returned with no explanation or occasionally, very lame excuses. Any other reporter would be fired for such behavior, but fortunately for him he had two things in his favor: one, Perry White liked him and cut him some slack; and two, sometimes when he disappeared Clark ended up being the first reporter on the scene of some major news story. This kind of luck struck Lois as suspicious, she just didn't know what she was suspecting Clark of.

So Lois had decided to find out where he went when he disappeared, after all, she justified, they were supposed to be partners.

Just then Clark's cell phone rang and she went back to watching him obviously, as opposed to just pretending not to.

"Clark Kent"

"What!" Clark jumped up from his seat in seeming surprise and anxiety.

"What? No, No, Laura, it's okay, I'll be right there. Don't do anything."

The conversation ended abruptly and Clark had his suit jacket and was making for the elevator before Lois realized she was supposed to be following him.

She grabbed her jacket and purse and ran towards the elevators, only to stop short on Clark's heels as he stood waiting for the elevator to come.

"What are you doing Lois?" he said, with exasperation and impatience in his voice.

"Just backing up my partner" she said winningly with a smile. "I don't have much going on right now (lie, lie, lie) so I thought I'd help you with whatever you're working on.

"Look Lois, there is a personal matter that I have to take care of and I really don't have time to argue with you. Just please, please, please leave me alone."

Clark sounded truly miserable, and the 'please, please, please' accompanied by puppy dog eyes meant he was serious, but Lois would not be deterred. She was tough, so she squelched that tiny feeling of sympathy she felt and pressed her advantage.

"Not a chance, Slick. Today, where you go, I follow. And don't bother trying to ditch me, if you like I can always tell Perry you ditched me when we were working together on a story---she paused dramatically--- and point out to him how often you disappear. Not even being Perry's favorite will allow him to disregard such blatant slacking off and unconcern for his rule that we work _together_."

Clark opened his mouth as if to argue, then shut it and looked at Lois with such an expression of woeful appeal that even the devil himself would have given in to his sad-eyed expression. But Lois wasn't called 'Mad Dog Lane' for nothing.

"Forget it, Clark, you're stuck with me today. I'm sticking to you like white on rice, and there's no getting away from me. Just give in gracefully.

They got onto the elevator together as it finally arrived but Clark's agitation didn't lessen any – he anxiously pressed the Parking Level button a few too many times.

He turned to face Lois in the close confined space and she was suddenly surprised to notice how tall he actually was (he usually held himself hunched over and smaller somehow) and how broad his shoulders were – he suddenly seemed to take up more space as he loomed over her -- also he had a very intense and strange expression on his face.

"Alright Lois, here's the deal. If you come with me today, you will undoubtedly learn a few things that would be newsworthy and make a very good story. But everything you learn today must be off-the-record. This can never be published, ever. I'm not kidding around here Lois, this is serious. You have to agree or your little field-trip today ends here."

She started to respond "Clark, I…" when he cut her off.

"And I'm not talking about writing the article and publishing under a pseudonom either. This is one secret you can't tell, and don't worry about Perry, he already knows about it."

If possible, this intrigued her even more, how could Clark 'Smallville' Kent have such a good, even newsworthy secret, so she said, "If you'd let me finish Clark, I agree to your terms. Lead on."

They stepped out of the elevator and made their way to Clark's rust-bucket of a car.

Lois knew she was only there on Clark's sufferance so she probably shouldn't make the usual jokes about his car, but oh well, he knew her, probably expected it even.

"Nice jalopy, Archie!" she joked. "Are you sure you don't want to take my car Clark? I don't mind, really. Then we might at least arrive at our destination."

Clark was still acting tense and uneasy, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, he barely even reacted to her usual crappy car joke.

"It's fine Lois. My car will get us there, we're not going far."

TBC.


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Lois thinks she has finally discovered where Clark goes off to when he disappears so mysteriously.

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Category: Drama, Clark/Lex friendship fic.

Spoilers: Clark is Superman and Lex knows, not much reference to the show or actual episodes otherwise, Clark works with Lois at The Planet .

Please excuse any errors as I don't have a Beta.

Any feedback would be very helpful, but this is my second fic ever, so please be gentle.

**Mystery Solved**

**Chapter Two of Two **  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lois was surprised to find out that Clark was understating things a bit about 'not going far' as they drove out of The Planet's underground parking garage and across the street. Clark parked in a Reserved parking spot directly in front of LexCorp Tower and turned the ignition off. They hadn't even been in the car for five minutes.

Lois looked at Clark inquiringly as he turned his body towards her in the driver's seat.

"This is it Lois. Just stay with me and keep your mouth shut and you'll be fine. If you cause a fuss, security will most likely escort you out of the building. Okay?"

"Right Clark. No problem. I'll be silent as the grave."

Clark's expression indicated how dubious he found it that Lois would be able to keep quiet and hold her tongue, but she was even more intrigued than ever and resolved to follow his rules.

Clark got out of the car and came around to open her door for her; Clark was the kind of old fashioned guy who would do this anyways but also the lock on the passenger door of his car stuck as Lois had learned from past excursions in his 'crapmobile' so she was content to wait for Clark to get the door for her.

"Um, I know I'm supposed to keep my mouth shut here Clark but don't you think you should park somewhere else. I think some LexCorp executive is going to get his nose out of joint that you took his parking spot, don't you?"

"Don't worry about it Lois. It's not a problem. Just follow me."

And with that Clark turned and walked quickly towards the entrance of the impressive LexCorp Tower.

Lois had to hurry to keep up with Clark's surprisingly long stride (as opposed to his usual shuffling walk) so she followed along quietly as previously ordered.

Just inside the entrance of the building was a security desk complete with metal detectors and guards. Clark strode up to the desk confidently and handed over a passcard.

One of the guards/security personnel smiled warmly at Clark and spoke: "Good morning, Mr. Kent. It's good to see you again. I haven't seen you around here in a while."

"Hi Greg. It's good to see you too. Yeah, I've been really busy at work so I haven't been by much lately. How are things around here?"

"Not bad, not bad. You can go right on up, Mr. Kent. I'll call ahead and let Laura know you're coming."

"Thanks Greg. Oh, and Ms. Lane here is with me, okay?" Clark said as he motioned towards where Lois was standing, slightly behind his right shoulder.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Kent. I'll see you later."

"Thanks Greg. Catch you later."

With that, Clark and Lois continued into the building. Clark led them past the bank of elevators at the center of the building to the back where a lone elevator stood. This elevator looked like a private security elevator. Lois wanted to ask Clark if this was correct, but kept her mouth shut (as instructed) and her eyes open.

This new information about her geeky partner was certainly adding new dimensions to her view of him.

Clark swiped his passcard into a cardreader in front of the elevator and the doors opened. Clark motioned for her to precede him politely and then got in after her. He pushed one of the buttons on the wall and the elevator began to move.

There were actually surprisingly few buttons in the elevator so presumably it was an express elevator. There seemed to be only two choices besides the main floor and parking level. Once again Lois was left to wonder silently about Clark Kent's seemingly ready-access to all things LexCorp related.

Clark was not unassuming about his access either, he seemed confident, as though he expected nothing less. This was not an attitude that Lois was familiar with in Clark Kent.

After a quick ride the doors to the elevator whooshed open and a demure older woman stood waiting for them. Clark rushed out to her, seeming to now forget all about Lois as his previous sense of urgency and concern re-emerged.

"Laura, tell me. What happened? How is he?" Clark spoke fervently to the woman.

"Clark, I'm so glad you're finally here. Lionel arrived unexpectedly for a visit this morning. I have no idea with his agenda was. I was away from my desk photocopying something and saw him get off the elevators. Security never even called up to warn me. I barely got to my desk to press the alarm for Lex by the time he reached the doors to Lex's office. I'm sure it caught Lex off guard, which you know he never likes to be around Lionel. He was here barely five minutes and after he left I heard some glass breaking and some things being smashed but Lex wouldn't let me in. That's when I called you. It's been quiet in there since them, but he still won't let anyone in."

"That's fine Laura. I know you did what you could to warn him, Lionel must have someone here on his payroll again to get by security like he did. What's important now is Lex. You did the right thing by calling me. Thank you. Everything's going to be fine. I'll just go make sure he's okay now."

Clark left Lois and the upset Laura by the elevator as he walked towards the back of the building and the ostentation set of double doors there that obviously led to Lex Luthor's office.

Lois couldn't deny it any further; obviously this was Lex and Lionel Luthor that had just been discussed so candidly in front of her. Either Clark truly did trust her or he had really forgotten that she was there at all; Lois preferred to think it was the first option, after all she had a heart too.

Clark had reached the double office doors now, he knocked loudly and yelled, "Lex, it's Clark, I'm coming in now okay, don't shoot."

Laura, evidently Lex Luthor's secretary returned to sit behind what was clearly her desk, just outside and to the right of Lex's office doors. She sat at her desk anxiously, quite obviously concerned for her boss's welfare. Lois was surprised and found herself rapidly revising her opinion of Lex Luthor if he had people like Clark and the motherly Laura caring about him. Judging by the talk however, she was sure her previous opinion of Lionel Luthor could remain the same. After all, everyone knew he was practically the devil himself.

Minutes passed and no sound was heard coming from the closed office doors. Laura was clearly not even making an attempt to work or to hide her worry.

Approximately fifteen minutes later the door opened and Clark walked out carrying Lex Luthor in his arms like a child. Lex lay in Clark's arms with his eyes closed and he appeared unresponsive.

Clark was no longer wearing his white dress shirt, he was in a simple white t-shirt and his dress shirt had been ripped apart and strips of it were wrapped around Lex Luthor's bleeding hands. Laura was at their side instantly whispering, her agitated tone indicated her distress.

"He's fine, Laura. Just banged up his hands pretty good, but he'll be fine. I'm going to take him upstairs now though, okay?"

"Of course, Clark. You take good care of him, I know you will. Tell him I'm so sorry for letting Lionel surprise him like that."

"Don't worry, Laura. It's not your fault. I'm sure that Lionel was playing some kind of mind game with him again, I doubt it would have mattered whether he surprised Lex or not. You know how sadistic he is. But don't you worry, he'll be fine. I'll stay and take care of him as long as he needs me. You just field his calls for a while and let me know if anything urgent comes up.

Oh and Laura, perhaps you should look into how Lionel got into the building undetected. That's a definite security risk there. I'll see you later Laura."

Clark walked to the elevator again, carrying Lex as though he weighed nothing. Two different thoughts flashed through her mind at the sight, one was how strong Clark seemed, and how sexy that suddenly made him appear, a thought which she'd never had about her partner before, and two was to wonder how often Clark had done this, carrying Lex Luthor around.

The elevator arrived and Clark motioned her to get on with him. Once inside he pushed the second button available (besides ground floor and parking level) and it occurred to her that this was Lex Luthor's private elevator. The two buttons on the elevator went directly to either his office or his home, as everyone knew Lex Luthor lived in the penthouse of LexCorp Tower.

Lex still remained unresponsive in Clark's arms as they exited onto the penthouse level. Lois mustered up her courage enough to ask "Are you sure he's okay Clark? He seems kind of out of it. Shouldn't we be taking him to a hospital?"

"He's fine Lois, thanks for asking. He's going to be okay, his hands are just a bit cut up and he's in shock right now. And no, Lex doesn't like hospitals, he'd be really upset if I took him to a hospital."

Lois nodded in response. Obviously Clark knew how to deal with the situation, so she'd just shut up for now.

"Lois, could you just reach into my right pants pocket and get my passcard, please? Just swipe it in the reader at the door, there" he tried to indicate by tilting his head toward the passcard reader.

Lois reached into his pocket and got the card out. Normally she would have made some kind of joke about it, and would have expected a blush out of Clark for it, but Clark seemed all business-like and now would not be an appropriate time for such a joke.

Lois swiped the card quickly and pushed the door open, then stepped out of the way for Clark to go in ahead of her. Clark went in and she followed shutting the door behind her. Clark seemed to know where he was going and so she figured 'what the hell, I've gone this far' so she followed him.

Lois barely had time to register anything about the apartment as Clark led her through it, just that it was tastefully decorated, but not as opulent as she would have expected. Clark walked straight to what was clearly the master bedroom and went into the attached bathroom.

Lois stood watching awkwardly from the doorway as Clark sat Lex down carefully on the toilet seat and began unwinding the makeshift bandages from his hands.

The rush of the taps being turned on filled her ears as Clark wet some towels. As Clark carefully washed Lex hands Lois was surprised to realize that Clark had been speaking the entire time to Lex in a hushed voice. Just reassurances like "Everything's going to be fin." or "I'm here Lex. I'll take care of you" but it seemed to work. Lex's eyes were open now, but he kept his gaze on the floor. He seemed dazed and Lois guessed Clark was right about it being shock.

Lex's hands appeared to have cuts on his palms, as if from glass, and also bruising and cuts on his knuckles as if he had punched something.

Clark finished washing Lex's hands and took some gauze out of the medicine cabinet and began winding it around his hands. Clark seemed very adept at bandaging Lex's wounds and Lex seemed to deal well with being taken care of like a child. It was eerie really.

When finished Clark picked Lex up again and took him back into the bedroom. Clark starting rummaging around in the drawers and soon came back with a pair of old flannel pajamas. He starting very perfunctorily undressing Lex and quickly had the pajamas on him and tucked into bed.

Clark leaned over Lex and spoke softly to him; Lois could barely make out the words. "It's okay Lex. You're alright. I'll never let him get you. Never. I'm just going to go change and then I'll sit with you until you fall asleep, okay? I'll be right back."

Clark grabbed her gently by the arm and pulled her with him as he went by towards the door. "C'mere Lois."

He led her down the hall to the next bedroom. It was decorated in warm colors and had a cozy feeling to it. It also had those neon stick-on stars on the ceiling, which did not go at all with the décor.

He led her to the bed and motioned for her to sit down beside him.

"This is my room when I stay over with Lex. Usually I just use it when I stay too late watching movies or hanging out but occasionally I stay over when Lex needs me to, like now. I know you've seen a lot today but I want you to really listen to me and think about this, Lois."

"Lex and I have been friends for over ten years, Lois. Look, I know you think he's a bad person, but he's not. Really he's not. His father, however, is. You saw what Lionel did to him… No, not physically, Lex did that to himself unfortunately. What Lionel does is to his mind. Lionel could teach the FBI a lot about brainwashing and mind games, after all he has a lot of experience; he's been doing it to Lex since he was a kid."

Clark paused with a sigh and looked her right in the eyes.

"Lex is doing everything in his power to break away from Lionel's circle of influence, but you can see how powerful he is, he got in here today without security even knowing about it.

So you can see what Lex is up against. He can't trust anyone, his own people could be working for Lionel. That's why Laura calls me. I always come when Lex needs me and he knows how much I hate Lionel for what he does to Lex, I'll always be loyal to Lex and right now he really needs that."

"So, Lois, what I'm saying here is, you know who you'd be hurting and who you'd be helping if you wrote about any of this. Lex's business reputation could be hurt if you even hint at any weakness in him, and you would only be doing Lionel's work for him. So please, Lois, would you keep this confidential for me, for Lex, please?"

"Clark, I get it. I'm not completely heartless, so yeah, I get it. I'll keep this all confidential and nothing will ever be mentioned about this again, by me anyways. I can see Lex is in good hands with a friend like you so I'm going to take off now and let you do what you do. You've given me a lot to think about today, Clark. So I'll see you tomorrow, alright partner?"

Clark looked relieved and his puppy-dog eyes said they were thankful to her. Clark came towards her and enveloped her in his arms, his big warm body felt comforting in a way she would have never expected. She could kind of get why Lex felt safe with Clark.

Clark kissed her gently on the cheek and said softly, "Thanks so much Lois. This means a lot to me. He's really my best friend and a good person. I hope you can see that."

"As I said Clark, I get it. No worries. I'll see you tomorrow. Take care of him and yourself."

The next morning Clark came into work at his usual time to find that Lois was already there at her desk, typing away furiously. He wanted to approach her but was anxious about speaking with her.

He had been having second thoughts about letting Lois know anything that would weaken Lex in her or anyone's eyes. He had started regretting his decision to let her know the second she had left.

Clark wanted to believe the best of people and he knew that although he wasn't naïve as some people thought, he did get burned a lot when he trusted people he shouldn't have. Now, for him that was fine, he was willing to risk getting hurt if it was just him on the line, but everything was different when it was Lex in the crosshairs.

"Clark, quit hovering over there and bring me a coffee," Lois said brusquely.

Clark jumped a bit, he had zoned out for a minute while staring at Lois and deciding whether to approach her or not. So he went to get her a fresh cup of coffee (because dollars to doughnuts, there's no way it was her first cup, Lois was a coffee-addict) and place it on the electric mug warmer she had on her desk.

Finally Lois looked up at him. "Thanks Clark," she said, with an unusually welcoming smile. "How are things going this morning?"

"Everything's fine now, Lois" he said hesitantly.

He turned around to go sit at his desk then stopped and turned back to face Lois again, "Lois, can I ask you? Are we alright? With what happened last night and all?"

Surprisingly, Lois got up out of her chair and came to stand directly in front of him. "Smallville (she started out automatically, then stopped herself)… I mean Clark (she grinned ruefully at him), I did a lot of thinking last night. And although I haven't changed my mind completely about the Luthors, either Lex or Lionel, I will continue to keep what I learned last night a secret.

And in the future I will keep a more open mind about Lex, not always assuming the worst, not printing rumors or innuendoes, but waiting until I have incontrovertible proof. That's all I can promise, to look at things with an open mind. Innocent until proven guilty and all that great stuff. So I hope that's enough for you, because that's all I can give you right now. Regardless of what I learned last night, I'm still not going to be Lex Luthor's greatest proponent. But I will endeavor to be fair in the future… and (she added slyly) if I feel the need to vilify a Luthor, I'll stick with Lionel."

Clark's grin lit up his face and Lois was reminded again of how passionate he was in caring about his friend's welfare.

"Lois, that would be perfectly fine with me. Vilify away.

I couldn't expect more from you. Only that you look at all the evidence fairly and attempt to substantiate any allegations of wrongdoing on Lex's part, because more times than not, they come from Lionel. So thanks Lois, you won't regret this."

And with that the partner both went back to their desks and back to work. Lois and Clark's working relationship was markedly improved after that, and Lois even began to enjoy her self-appointed assignment of harrowing Lionel Luthor to the best of her ability.

7 Months Later

Lois and Clark were both at their desk when Jimmy came running over to them excitedly. "Hey Lois, CK, did you hear? Lionel Luthor just died. He had some sort of heart attack or aneurism or something and just dropped dead at a LuthorCorp board meeting. They rushed him to the hospital but he was declared DOA."

Immediately Lois looked over at Clark. He was deathly pale and looked to be in shock. Jimmy had already wandered away and so Lois rose silently from her chair and went to his side.

"You'd better go to him Clark. He's going to need you, if I am any judge of the situation. He may have hated Lionel, but this death is still going to be hard for him to handle. So quit staring off into space and buck up. You've got to be strong for him. Just go now. Don't worry, I'll handle Perry. I'll tell him you are working on the Mayoral Sponsorship Scandal."

Clark snapped out of his daze and looked up at her with wet eyes and lashes. Lois' heart thumped irregularly in her chest as she realized, he wasn't teary-eyed over Lionel, but over her compassion for him in the situation. Wow, she had never been a very good friend to anyone in the past, always single-minded in the pursuit of her own goals; it felt good when Clark looked at her so thankfully.

"Lois, I am so going to owe you for this one. Thank you so much." He stood up quickly and hugged her hard, Lois felt a slight feeling of déjà vu, as she again experienced Clark's arms as a warm and safe place to be. Lois blushed and Clark let her go. The moment was over. She pushed him awkwardly towards the elevators, "Go Clark, don't worry, I'll shut down your computer and everything. Take tomorrow as well, I'll cover with you for Perry for one day, got it? And then you're back here or you're on your own." But she softened her semi-harsh words with a smile and another gentle push.

Clark took the hint and headed towards the elevators with her walking behind him, saying over his shoulder, "Thanks Lois, you're the best. I'll even agree to let you drive on the next stake-out, since I know how much you hate my car."

Lois smirked at him, "Oh no, Clark, a stake-out is the only time I actually do want to use your car, after all, I don't want to get mine scratched up by accident."

"Ha ha. Yeah, whatever Lois. See you later," Clark said as the elevator doors closed between him and Lois.

Lois waited for a few seconds then headed back to Clark's desk to turn off his computer and shut his area down for the night. She felt good, it felt good to be trusted by Clark, it felt good to be needed by Clark. Lois had seen how easily he made friends and that everyone seemed to love him and his boyish charm. But Lois had always held herself back from him.

Now she thought she understood how a 'Smallville' guy like Clark could be 'best friends' with Lex Luthor. People were attracted to Clark, no question about that, but people were also affected by Clark. And if she was any indication of it, it wasn't naïve Clark who was being influenced by the notorious Lex Luthor but, in fact, the other way around. Who would have guessed it? Before this, certainly not her.

THE END 

Author's Note: Sorry to all those Lex lovers out there, I had planned this to be more about Clark and Lex's friendship and it somehow morphed into being more about Lois' understanding of Clark and Lex's friendship. Thanks to those who reviewed. Much appreciated!


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